The Church of

St. Bartholomew

Yonkers

A Catholic Community

In the Archdiocese of

New York

Outreach & Evangelization Commission

INTRODUCTIONThe early Church was so focused on the mission of Christ – to bring as many people as possible to Christ and help them know Him and thus gain eternal life, that they seemingly dedicated over two thirds of their energy on reaching out to new people in near and faraway villages, towns, cities, metropolis, etc. Even the internal needs and problems of the young and growing community would not bog them down as we see in the sixth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. The apostles’ response was, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables” (Acts 6:2). In essence, they stayed true to the fact that their mission was far more than taking care of or maintaining the young community. The bigger focus and challenge was to get out there and continue reaching out to those that need to hear and know about the Savior and his loving sacrifice for them, to stay engaged with the society and culture.

Sadly, many Catholics and parishes live as though their mission or the Church’s mission is mostly to take care of those already inside. Other Christian churches are not exempt from this either. It may have worked many years long gone. Today, many parts of the world are becoming mission territories all over again as society lose touch with God and His saving message at an alarming rate.

There’s an urgent and great need to remind ourselves that the Church does not exist for itself, that as a parish, we do not exist for ourselves. It’s not primarily about us, but about God’s mission in the world. This will always be a bitter pill for many of us and many parishes to swallow because we mostly feel that we ourselves need a whole lot of taking care of before we could start looking outward. But we must imitate the apostles in Act 6:2. The beauty of this model is that apart from the fact that that’s what Jesus has called us to do, when we actually do so, we grow exponentially like the early Church.

Mission StatementCreate and deepen among parishioners the awareness of the larger mission of the Church to serve and evangelize all peoples; and that as part of the Church, we will strive to do so beginning in our neighborhood, community, city and Archdiocese.

Vision StatementThat every parishioner is well informed about, and according to their God-given gifts and abilities actively participate in the Church’s mission to bring the Good News of Christ to all peoples, through service, charity, prayer and sharing God’s Word.